GAME REPORT

Fenerbahce Survive Sopron Scare

Angel McCoughtry found her shot early for Fenerbahce to finish the game with 15 points, alongside seven boards

Fenerbahce gave up just three points to hosts Sopron in the final six minutes of their Wednesday encounter and escaped with a hard-earned 57-53 victory to stay undefeated at the top of the Group B standings.

The Turkish side had to dig deep in Hungary in order to extend their winning streak in this EuroLeague Women season to seven games.

In a clash that was too close for comfort from tip-off to final buzzer, Fenerbahce reached the half-time break holding a fragile 36-34 lead.

They appeared to be opening a gap when Anastasiya Verameyenka made one of two shots from the foul line and gave them a 43-36 lead, their biggest all night, with 3:51 left in the third quarter.

It was a mirage though, as point guard Iva Ciglar drilled a triple 49 seconds from the end of the period to put the resilient hosts ahead, 45-44.

Sopron, who were now entirely convinced they were capable of delivering the upset, claimed a three-point lead, 50-47, when Kelly Faris sunk another three-pointer with 5:59 left to play.

In a low-scoring affair like this however, Fenerbahce could count on the likes of Agnieszka Bibrzycka and Cappie Pondexter.

The backcourt duo combined for 11 crucial points in the clutch while the Hungarian side only managed to score three points from free throws the rest of the way and neither side scored in the final 100 seconds.

McCoughtry led all Fenerbahce scorers with 15 points and added seven rebounds, Bibrzycka and Pondexter finished with 11 points each while center Isabelle Yacoubou collected a double-double of 10 points and 14 rebounds for the winners.

Ciglar and Tianna Hawkins each scored a game-high 17 points for Sopron in defeat.

COACH QUOTES

Quotes: UE Sopron vs. Fenerbahce

UE Sopron Head Coach Igor Polenek"First of all congratulations to Fenerbahce. They didn't play as good as normal, but it is our success too! I'm proud of my team, we fought very well! But against such a good team as Fenerbahce we have to be smarter in the last minutes of a game. Under the basket they were taller, so we did not make enough rebounds. But we can build our future on what we have shown tonight!"

Fenerbahce Head Coach Roberto Iniguez "I'm happy for the result, but not how we played. We fought well in defence, that is why we won the game. Congratulations to Sopron, without few injured players they made a very good job tonight!"

UE Sopron Player Tianna Hawkins "We worked well as a team. I'm not happy because we lost, but I'm happy that we played better and made a step forward."

Fenerbahce Player Isabelle Yacoubou "It was a difficult game. On offence we were not calm enough, we rushed too much. We didn't play well, but that's why we are strong, because we can push each other in this situation. Congratulations to Sopron, they played really well!"